Sol Campbell has parted company with Newcastle United after a disappointing season which is widely expected to preface his retirement.

The former England, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal centre-half made only eight first team appearances during a campaign in which he struggled to shake off numerous injuries.

"Sol's gone and good luck to him," said Alan Pardew, Newcastle's manager. "Sol's been an icon of the game but he didn't feature too much here."

Indeed the highly paid Campbell's failure to estabish himself proved one of the reasons why Pardew's predecessor, Chris Hughton, was sacked midway through the season.

Newcastle's current manager has also confirmed that the similarly out-of-contract striker Shefki Kuqi is being released but Meihdi Abeid, the 19-year-old Lens midfielder appears en route to St James' Park following a successful trial.

Among several other targets, notably including Wigan Athletic's Charles N'Zogbia, Newcastle are in hot pursuit of the widely coveted, £12m rated Lorient striker Kevin Gameiro and hope to convince him his future likes in north east England rather than Spain.